From AI to Agriculture: How Broadband Shapes Hancock County’s Future

Hancock County recently completed a study on broadband access — not just who’s connected, but how reliable, affordable, and useful those connections really are. On this edition of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, Hancock County Commissioner Jeff Hunker and Lisa Lawson from the Center for Regional Development join host Doug Jenkins to break down the findings, from the gaps still facing rural residents to how broadband impacts everything from telehealth and small-business growth to the ability to use AI tools. They also discuss what’s next as local, state, and federal partners work to expand access and close the “last mile” of connectivity in Hancock County. 

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:05 - (Doug Jenkins): Hello, everyone, and welcome to Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. I'm your host, Doug Jenkins. Are you looking for ways to grow your business, maybe navigate new challenges, or just stay in the loop on what's happening right here in our business community? Well, if that's the case, you're in the right place. Every week we're talking about the issues that matter most to you. Whether it's attracting great talent, marketing, effectively solving IT issues really could be anything.

0:00:30 - (Doug Jenkins): And get ready for tips and updates that you need to succeed. Over the last several months, Hancock county residents and businesses have been taking part in a study to better understand broadband access in the county. Not just who has Internet, but how reliable is it and how are people using it. Not only that, need to know where the gaps are in the community. In this week's episode, we're talking with some of the people involved in the study to learn what they discovered and talk about why broadband access is a much bigger issue than just getting online.

0:00:58 - (Doug Jenkins): With that in mind, my guests will be Hancock County Commissioner Jeff Hunker and Lisa Lawson from the center for Regional Development to talk about things like how digital access impacts quality of life, how AI has amplified the need for quality Internet access, and what's being done locally to help improve things. Before we get started, please be sure to rate and review the show. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it really does help spread the word.

0:01:21 - (Doug Jenkins): Now, let's get into it. And joining us on the podcast, Hancock County Commissioner Jeff Hunker as well as Lisa Lawson from the center for Regional Development. We're here to talk about all things broadband and Hancock county and what access currently looks like, what it could look like, why that's a big. Why that is a big issue to talk about. Thank you both for joining us today.

0:01:44 - (Lisa Lawson): Thank you for having me.

0:01:45 - (Jeff Hunker): Thanks for the invite.

0:01:46 - (Doug Jenkins): So let's get into it. Over the course of the last year, a large group of partners came together to do a survey about broadband in Hancock County. Let's first just get the backstory on why that all came together.

0:02:02 - (Jeff Hunker): Okay, so. So I'm fairly new as a commissioner, but I was aware in 2024, it was brought to the attention of the commissioners that we should study broadband access and. And the availability in the county. And obviously, as county commissioner, you're concerned about the welfare of all residents of the county. So we went ahead and got on board, the previous commissioners did, and set up a bunch of groups of individuals with different backgrounds to reach out to the community and find out what, what actually was available.

0:02:44 - (Jeff Hunker): So that that's a little bit of the background.

0:02:47 - (Doug Jenkins): And we were happy as the Chamber to be one of those resources you were able to use where we had some members get together for a roundtable, discuss. I think last December is when that took place. So you could hear from local business leaders on what their experience with bot broadband was. Certainly we know it's very important. We're doing this interview via broadband connection. But why is it such a critical issue in Hancock County? I think maybe a lot of people default to. Doesn't everybody have it?

0:03:18 - (Jeff Hunker): Go ahead Lisa, if you want.

0:03:19 - (Lisa Lawson): Well, so access is really a multi pronged issue, right? So simply because someone may or may not have a connection directly to their house might not mean that they have access to broadband for a number of reasons. So one of the things that we did during some of the focus groups was we, we played a little game called broadband bingo and it was, we took a look at some of the things that people do online.

0:03:47 - (Lisa Lawson): So have you had a telehealth appointment in the last week? Have you done online banking? Are you using that to pay your bills or maybe even keep in touch with family and friends? Have you sent a text to a friend or a family member? These sorts of things are incredibly important in the day to day lives of everyday people, including those folks in Hancock County. We're also living in a time of the Internet of things.

0:04:14 - (Lisa Lawson): So a lot of people's refrigerators are connected to the Internet. Many people have porch doorbells that are cameras that they can see when Amazon drops off a package. Even Amazon itself shopping for some folks who might not be able to get out to access things that even are niche markets. These kinds of things are very important to people just in everyday general living. And then we also took a look at how it's impacting things like the disabled population and seniors.

0:04:51 - (Lisa Lawson): So for like the board of dd, the developmental disabilities they are now staffing if you will, using that as a loose term, some of their clients homes to allow them independent living where they could not have lived independently otherwise. So it's assisting folks in becoming independent, but it's also reducing their staffing costs. So I mean this is. Broadband is a huge issue for folks and impacting their everyday lives.

0:05:21 - (Doug Jenkins): I have to think with the advent of AI, when we first started talking about access to broadband, that wasn't a thing. And now within the last two, three years, suddenly AI is everywhere and integrated in seemingly all things. And when you look at the everyday use for people who are looking for jobs and the assistance it can give them in writing a resume and things like that. Or Jeff, for businesses that are out in the county and maybe they're located in an area where they don't have good broadband connections, that really limits their ability to use AI. And in both cases, it puts either the business or the job seeker behind the eight ball because they don't have access to a tool that many others do.

0:06:01 - (Lisa Lawson): I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jeff. That also leads to one of the other prongs of Internet access, or digital equity, if you will, and that's that having an appropriate device to do those kinds of things. Right. Writing a resume on a phone, which is how most people access the Internet, is probably going to be a very difficult task. So do they have that device? Can they afford it, and do they know how to use it?

0:06:24 - (Doug Jenkins): Based on the way my son texts, he can barely put a text message together on a cell phone, let alone a resume. Jeff, you were going to talk about the AI and businesses and access to broadband.

0:06:35 - (Jeff Hunker): Well, I think this, this day and age as individuals apply for a job, you, you need access. And, and you know, the other part of it is not just access, but you need access, has speed to it. Because you may be applying for something and because your, what you have is so slow, you might even be getting kicked out of the system and you're going to be ultimately so frustrated that you're like you're going to give up probably, which is very frustrating.

0:07:11 - (Doug Jenkins): And not just that. Think about how many people do an initial interview online like we're doing this interview. If you don't, if you're not able to hold those Internet speeds, you're going to be cut out of whatever that job might be. And maybe you have an entire sector of the job market.

0:07:27 - (Jeff Hunker): Absolutely. I mean, it's, it's what, what, what we found with this was, you know, accessibility is only one part of the equation. The speed of what you have as well as the cost of what you have are two huge parts.

0:07:49 - (Doug Jenkins): So one of the interesting things I found, and Lisa, you can correct me if I get this number wrong again, which I've already done in an email exchange, but I believe it's one US residents don't have access to high speed Internet or broadband. The number looks better in Hancock county, which is good, but still not where we want to be. Maybe you can both talk a little bit about that.

0:08:11 - (Lisa Lawson): Yeah. So in Hancock county, approximately 95% of folks have Internet access. And so we're actually Doing better than the Ohio average, which is about 95.5%. And generally rural areas throughout the country is about 93%. So yeah, Hancock county is doing a little better than some of the other areas. And that's ticking up thanks to some of the isp, the Internet service providers who are investing in the technology to make that happen.

0:08:44 - (Lisa Lawson): But it's incredibly important for precision agriculture. And those are the places that are those what's referred to as last mile. Those are the last folks to get that. And those might be the folks who benefit the most from it.

0:08:59 - (Doug Jenkins): Oh, most definitely.

0:09:00 - (Lisa Lawson): Particularly in rural areas.

0:09:01 - (Jeff Hunker): Yeah, I could agree with that based on my background in agriculture. I definitely, I definitely agree with that. I mean, it's needed, it's utilized, but it may fall short in some areas.

0:09:13 - (Lisa Lawson): Yeah. And the USDA has a big push even for broadband accessibility for farmers and agriculture producers.

0:09:21 - (Doug Jenkins): Before we get into what successfully getting that last mile looks like, or upping the percentage of people who have access to quality Internet connection speeds. And that one of the other things that I found particularly interesting is that digital literacy really came up as a concern. I know from back to my days in media to even what I'm doing now, that's always been something that's been a little top of mind to me.

0:09:44 - (Doug Jenkins): What were some of the findings and what stood out to you in that regard?

0:09:50 - (Lisa Lawson): Well, I think for digital literacy is difficult for some populations, more so than others. Teenagers for instance. Right. Like if I handed my 18 year old kid a problem with my computer and said, hey, help me figure out X, Y and Z on my laptop, he would have it done in probably 2.3 seconds. But when we look at other populations, such as seniors, folks with limited English proficiency, the disabled population, some of those folks really have a harder time with literacy.

0:10:26 - (Lisa Lawson): And because that's one of the reasons that they were named as one of the populations that targeted populations that the federal government was looking at specifically to help that area in particular. But you know, so seniors sometimes have trouble figuring out, like how do I pay a bill, I need to see a doctor, you know, at Cleveland Clinic. And I can do it online, but I can't figure out how to access that.

0:10:51 - (Lisa Lawson): So the 50 north in particular has stepped up. They've got someone who comes in, I think, on Tuesday mornings to help with some of the literacy issues, you know, if they need Facebook installed on their phone so they can keep up with their friends in Florida while they're home, or you know, the banking apps and show them how to use that and help Them sort of troubleshoot some of those issues that they're having.

0:11:13 - (Lisa Lawson): The library has a program to help some of the folks with limited English proficiency and in some of those ways that that is a little more difficult to reach. I think.

0:11:23 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, that was also identified in the report too, is that libraries and some nonprofits can really help bridge the gap to people who may not have that access. And I know there are different funding things and everything that's always in flux, but it seems like there are efforts being made to have organizations like the library step in to help there.

0:11:45 - (Lisa Lawson): Yeah, I think a lot of times the grass, maybe not grassroots probably isn't the right word that organizations that are helping the general community sees these trends firsts first, because they are helping people. You know, it's not a 50,000 foot view, it's really a 50 foot view. So they, they tend to see that. And I think they're nimble enough that they can make changes to help people and implement programs that help people and they can do that quickly. So the library, as I said, is, is even though the state as a whole is implementing some library programs to help folks with even basic courses, Hancock County Habitat for Humanity is doing a lot. They offer some classes, they offer resume prep and even loans of devices so people can take those things home to work on them through what's referred to as the Financial Opportunity Center.

0:12:48 - (Lisa Lawson): Again, linking those kinds of things are super important because it really is the key to everything right now. The keys to the kingdom.

0:12:56 - (Doug Jenkins): Real quick, just on technology as it relates to non English speaking populations. I think maybe there's a tendency by some to say, well, you know, they, why should they have access to it if others don't? Or perhaps, you know, they should be speaking English anyway. And I think probably the, the upshot of it is, is that by having access to this, they would have access to tools to help them learn English faster.

0:13:19 - (Doug Jenkins): Which I think we would all agree that being, being fluent in English is going to help you get ahead faster than if you're not in, certainly in the area and in the country as a whole.

0:13:30 - (Lisa Lawson): I think that's absolutely true.

0:13:31 - (Jeff Hunker): Yeah, I agree. I agree.

0:13:34 - (Doug Jenkins): That's the one opinion that I'll offer this podcast. Other than that I just ask, I just ask questions. So let's talk about the first steps being taken. We've got all the information. I know the press release is going out. People will probably be seeing more about this in the newspaper, on the radio, things like that. Now that we have all the information, what happens next?

0:13:56 - (Jeff Hunker): I think I will say a few words and I'm going to defer to Lisa because she knows more about this. But, you know, we have to make contact with the Internet service providers. Obviously, I've been made aware, you know, funding, state funding and federal funding may be available, but from what I've read is it's not necessarily available to communities. It's available to Internet service providers and that gets funded channeled through into the community.

0:14:26 - (Jeff Hunker): So I will. With that, I'll lead in and let Lisa pick up and correct me if I was wrong.

0:14:32 - (Lisa Lawson): No, I think you're correct. The state. Some of this is a little influx right now. Some of what had been referred to the BEAD program, which was infrastructure money for the Internet Service providers. It's my understanding that some of that money has been clawed back from the federal government through some cuts that took place to the National Telecommunic Communications and Information Administration, the ntia.

0:14:58 - (Lisa Lawson): I think Broadband Ohio, which is the state agency overseeing all of this broadband implementation, probably isn't, at least the last I heard was not 100% sure what money is going to be available. And when they did have some plans to through the BEAD funds, but then also some digital equity monies would go to regionally would go to organizations that were doing things like refurbishing devices to get those out to the community or what were referred to as digital navigators.

0:15:35 - (Lisa Lawson): So people who could help people access digital literacy courses or assist them in and finding technology, all those kinds of things. I'm not, I'm not 100% sure what, if any, of that money will ever make it out. The last I heard from Peter Voderberg, who's the head of Broadband Ohio, was that they were still waiting on the federal government to see. But there were big plans to get a lot of money out to communities, both through, through the BEAD program, which again was the infrastructure, and through digital equity applications that came into the state that organizations could apply to for that again, seeing on the ground what was working and what the needs were so that, so that communities and organizations could respond to those specific needs.

0:16:25 - (Doug Jenkins): So the funding piece needs to come together. And I'm sure over the course of the next few years something will come together and coalesce around that. If you extrapolate this out, and I like it when I use big words like that. So there's my big word for the day. If you look down the road, say five years now, maybe even 10 years from now, what does success in this department look like in Hancock county in particular?

0:16:51 - (Jeff Hunker): I Guess as a, as a commissioner, I see what we would have is 99.9% access, high speed Internet access, connectivity in all ways. I don't think any of us know exactly what the future holds. I was in a conversation meeting today and people are used to calling to schedule an appointment and they said, oh, we're going to put out this new app. Well, we're always going to deal with issues of some people like myself, for example, being technologically challenged at times.

0:17:41 - (Jeff Hunker): But we'll do the best we can to, if the items are there available, at least then we can take it the next step and help train and educate where people can use them. But at least we've done the first step where it's available and that's, that's critical, especially in the world we live in today.

0:18:06 - (Doug Jenkins): Lisa, any thoughts to add to that?

0:18:08 - (Lisa Lawson): I don't, I think the state of Ohio has some very lofty goals and again, Peter Vorderberg has said in five or 10 years if we don't have access to every house in the state, that he should lose his job either because it's not done correctly or because the work is done. So I think those goals that the state shares are absolutely goals that the, the, the county has as well. You know, ensuring that everyone has access, that they know how to use it, that they can afford it, and that they have, you know, an appropriate device for what they want to do. I think is, is the goal.

0:18:45 - (Doug Jenkins): There's a lot going into it. Obviously it's something we want to keep track of. We want to make sure people have access to the best technology resources here in Hancock County. We want to make sure that our businesses have access to that as well so they can continue to compete in the, the regional and national and even global marketplaces. We know that we have several businesses around here who do compete on, on that scale. So I appreciate the work that both of you have put into this as well as everybody else involved with, with doing the study and now rolling it out and hopefully we can get more people on board to make sure that we continue to have that type of access here in Hancock County.

0:19:23 - (Doug Jenkins): Lisa and Jeff, thanks for joining us on the podcast today.

0:19:26 - (Lisa Lawson): Thank you so much.

0:19:27 - (Jeff Hunker): Appreciate it.

0:19:29 - (Doug Jenkins): A couple of things that really stood out to me following our conversation is just because that an area served with Internet access doesn't mean that residents or businesses have usable or affordable high speed connections. Both of those are very, very key points. True access includes reliability, affordability and the ability to participate in today's fully digital economy. And as new technology like AI and connected devices become more common, the need for robust broadband only is going to grow. Imagine, imagine using something like Facebook on dial up. That would be impossible.

0:20:01 - (Doug Jenkins): Now imagine using something even more useful and powerful like ChatGPT. And you do that on a slow Internet connection. Not just a dial up, just something maybe you had in the early 2000s. That would be an issue too. But some people still have speeds that are about like that. That's what we're talking about and what we have been talking about. Well, that'll wrap up this episode of the podcast. Chamber Amplified is a free resource from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, made possible by support of our members.

0:20:29 - (Doug Jenkins): Their investment drives everything we do, whether it's business advocacy and leadership programs to providing you with timely local information. Do you want to help strengthen our community and grow your business? Well, we'd love to have you. Just let me know that you're interested and we can talk about how an investment in the Chamber not only benefits you, but the community as a whole. And if you have an idea for a future episode, please share it with me. Just send an email to djenkinsindleyhancockchamber.com

0:20:56 - (Doug Jenkins): thanks again for listening. And don't miss the next episode of Chamber Amplified.